Fullness
Colossians 2:9-10a For in Him (Christ) all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form and in Him you have been made complete (given fullness),
Have you ever felt empty? Maybe part good part evil? Well here is some good news that you might have to look up to believe (and please do).
In Christ, we have been made complete! Wow! He has given us fullness (NIV). Incredible! And He does not say we "will be," He says we "have been." So what does that mean? That means that Jesus is our sufficiency. It means that we have been given everything pertaining to life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3). It means that we no longer need to be thirsty because we have that well of living water inside of us (John 4:10, 14). It means that we are done deals, wholly right, completely good and 100% full. There is no more room, so we can stop trying to shove stuff in there. In Christ we no longer need a title, another dollar, another person or anything else to make us complete because we already are. He has filled us.
Let me take it a step further, if Christ is the fullness of Deity and we are in Christ (1 Cor 1:30) and Christ is in us (Gal 2:20, John 14:20) then the fullness of Deity is in us. Let me say that again, the fullness of Deity is in us! Wow! How can we not be complete? How can we not be full?
In Christ, we have been made complete! Wow! He has given us fullness (NIV). Incredible! And He does not say we "will be," He says we "have been." So what does that mean? That means that Jesus is our sufficiency. It means that we have been given everything pertaining to life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3). It means that we no longer need to be thirsty because we have that well of living water inside of us (John 4:10, 14). It means that we are done deals, wholly right, completely good and 100% full. There is no more room, so we can stop trying to shove stuff in there. In Christ we no longer need a title, another dollar, another person or anything else to make us complete because we already are. He has filled us.
Let me take it a step further, if Christ is the fullness of Deity and we are in Christ (1 Cor 1:30) and Christ is in us (Gal 2:20, John 14:20) then the fullness of Deity is in us. Let me say that again, the fullness of Deity is in us! Wow! How can we not be complete? How can we not be full?
You are incredible dear saint of God, not for anything you have done, but because God is that cool! You are awesome because our Lord is awesome. As we walk together this year "Growing in Fullness" let us remember that fullness is our starting point not the finish line. Let us remember that we are not trying to attain to something that we are not but instead we are trying to live what we are. Be encouraged by His truth and praise Him today.
7 comments:
Question: How is it that we who acknowledge we are already spiritually "full" (in that the deity of Christ dwells in us, making us complete) speak of "being filled" or a "filling" of the Spirit after having already known Christ?
Josh, that's an excellent question. I prayed and thought about it a lot. I came up with a couple of thoughts:
1) The 'internal' point of view: We are "full" of the Spirit in the sense that our spirit contains the fullness of Him at all times. Our soul, on the other hand, continually needs 'filling' in our mind and emotions to drive our will in a godly way. The soul, where our battle resides, is also being 'infiltrated' with messages from our flesh and the power of sin in the world, and in the soul we need constant 'filling' in order to carry out the will of the Spirit instead of the flesh. So in that arena the filling is always required.
2) An 'external' point of view: One of our main goals as believers is to 'pour out' ourselves for the purpose of glorifying God and showing the world what a life surrendered to God looks like. Anything that we 'pour out' of us that is worthwhile is not us, but the Spirit in us doing His work, so as we are pouring out the Spirit, we need constant filling again.
Don't know if these comments are helpful to anyone else or not, but it's how I look at it after thinking about it for a while.
Good job Dan! And great job Travis!!
I have known kids who come from a very wealthy family. These kids know that their parents are worth millions and that one day they will inherit everything that they have. The sad part was these kids were always in trouble. They used their parents wealth and name to serve their fleshly desires. They broke the law, nor appreciate or take care of the gifts their parents provided for them. They were complete according to the world's standards as being able to live in this world without need or want. The only time they fellowshipped with their parents was when they wanted money or needed to be bailed out of trouble. Even though the parents loved them and provided everything to make them complete, their parents heart's desire was for them to honor them or come to them with thankful hearts. Does this sound familiar? SO many times, we who are complete in Him, who are joint-heirs, overcomers, triumphers, and are glorified, walk out life as if we are paupers and empty, walk to our own drum beat, and live unfulfilled lives. That is where our part of living complete comes in. It is one thing to be complete, but it is another thing to understand and trust and walk by faith by what we already have. Peter Lord said one time, we don't need to be discovering new truth every month, we need to live the truth we already know. Fullness is a truth that has been misconstrued and forgotten by many believers. I pray that we will be obedient sons and daughters and with thankful and sincere hearts, "know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge so that we may be filled with the fullness of God." Ephesians 5:19
Josh,
Fullness is a spiritual quality of Christ (Col 1:19, 2:9-10, Jn 1:16) that every believer receives in the original salvation package. It is much like holiness, righteousness, chosen-ness, etc. And much like those qualities, the scriptures tell us we are full as well as call us to be full (or being filled). So, fullness explains our person as well as an outpouring of our person (i.e. behavior, experience, etc)
The “full/being filled” concept is two fold
1) Person: we are to recognize that the new man, which is the inner man, which is the real you is complete and full. 100%. It is the starting line for a believer. The outer man (our body) is still an unredeemed meat computer. Garbage in…garbage out, especially if you are not paying attention. And the inner man is in a constant state of being renewed not in the sense of being remade but in the sense of being upheld.
2) Experience: this is two fold also. The first is the distinction between person and behavior. In this aspect the “be filled” verses is most applicable. It brings forth the idea that even though we are full we may not act like it or even know how. We have a choice to walk after the Spirit or Flesh. So the call to be filled (or better be being filled) is not a call to change ourselves. It is a call to walk out who we are; or better said, to live in a state of intimacy with the Spirit. The second aspect of experience is emotional, knowledge, or sensing. This is a direct result of successfully living “be being full.” When this happens we have a fullness of joy, peace, knowledge, etc. In other words we experience our inheritance in full. We did not gain it by our actions. It was there the whole time but we are actually taking advantage of it.
Therefore “Growing in Fullness” is not a call to us to become full but rather to realize that we are full and learn to walk it out and experience it. That is the process of maturity that scriptures call us to. Another way to put it would be “Grow up people!” but that might be seen as a little offensive.
I like "Grow up People" better. I shoot straight from the hip so it's more my style. Thanks everyone for answering my question!
I pray to God that we all will live out the full reality of God's presence, providence, passion, and peace.
Walk on.
Couple of comments here:
1) To MIKE:
You said: 'Good job, Dan' and 'Great job Travis'. So I'm feeling a little inferior here :-)
2) To JOSH:
Travis said "Grow up people" might be a little offensive. You said that "I like "Grow Up People" better"...In response to this, I can only say to you, Josh, "GROW UP!" :-)
Good stuff here. I'm looking forward to some great teaching from Travis at the church this year.
Josh, as an old stodgy member of your group that thrives on seeing God's people grow, I would like to rephrase the general command "Grow up people" to something a little more encouraging and personal.
"God is growing YOU!"
He is using Kresta, Cameron and the amazing network of people that challenge every single day to greatness.
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